


Only Tender Love

by indigo (indigo_angels)



Category: The A-Team (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 22:50:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12118923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigo_angels/pseuds/indigo
Summary: It's been a slow burn and a sudden awakening and Hannibal's first night with Face is nothing like he'd imagined.





	Only Tender Love

**Author's Note:**

> Is this the longest love scene ever written? :))

The doorbell rang and Hannibal took one last glimpse in the mirror before smoothing down his new shirt and heading over to open the door. It was Face, of course, he’d known it would be, hoped it would be, but it had seemed kind of strange for the man to ring the bell when he usually just barged in with a yell of welcome. 

As he got his first glimpse of his dinner guest, however, he realised that tonight was not the night for ‘usually’, tonight was the night for ‘first’ and Hannibal could only hope that it was the first of very, very many.

“Hey.” He smiled a greeting and found himself flushing as he took in Face just standing there, trousers and jacket, shirt open just enough to get a hint of that totally kissable neck... he swallowed. 

“Hey.” Face smiled back although he certainly seemed a little on edge. “I brought you these.”

For a second, Hannibal’s heart stilled as he dragged his gaze from Face’s ever so slightly flushed cheeks to see what he was holding out in his hands, praying that it wasn’t a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates. It wasn’t, it was a rack of Buds and he smiled, thank God that their first ever date, wasn’t turning into a ‘ _date_ ’. 

He took the proffered beer with a smile and turned back to the hallway. “Come in, kid. You can hang your jacket there if you like,” he gestured to the empty coat rack as they passed but realised that Face hadn’t paused when he could hear his soft steps on the carpet behind him.

“Nah, I’m good thanks.”

Hannibal smiled as they reached the kitchen. “Not staying?” he teased then wished he’d swallowed his words when he turned around to see Face in the bright strip light of the kitchen, see his clear nervousness and he realised then that the jacket was a prop, that Face always felt more comfortable in a suit, when he could pretend to be someone he wasn’t. His heart fell. He leaned up against the worktops, feeling the heat from the oven where his lasagne, about as exotic as his cooking ever got, was bubbling away happily and regarded his XO as he fidgeted awkwardly with his cuffs.

“What?” Face looked up at him and the flush in his cheeks was darker. “No. Of course not, boss. I’m just cold, that’s all.”

Hannibal just nodded; it was seventy three outside, hardly Arctic. 

“Face...” his voice was soft and he watched as those incredible blue eyes jumped up to meet his. “This doesn’t have to be anything different, you know,” he offered. “How many nights have you eaten round here? How many times have you and me and a few Buds spent an evening together? This can be just another one of those nights.”

Face shifted awkwardly and folded his arms tightly across his chest. “It’s fine,” he answered quietly. “It’s all fine. It’s hardly been just another one of those weeks.”

And he was right. It hadn’t. It had started with an ordinary kind of job defending a saw mill from the assholes running the local protection racket, and ended up with the team spending eighteen hours utterly convinced that Face was dead. Eighteen hours after watching the mill being blown to kingdom come, knowing for a fact that Face had been in it, not knowing that he’d thrown himself out of a second floor window and into the fast flowing river below mere seconds before the blast turned their client’s property into matchsticks. His phone and his radio had been ruined by the water, he’d washed up four miles downstream in the middle of the forest, and in the eighteen hours it took him to scramble back, the team extracted monetary and physical remuneration from the bad guys for their act and Hannibal realised that the most important person in his life had died without ever knowing just _how_ important he was. It was no surprise then, that when Face finally dragged himself back into the land of the living just after dawn the next day that the first thing Hannibal did was grab him and kiss him. Fortunately for everyone, Face had kissed back.

That had been two days ago now, and once the heightened emotions had died down, so had Hannibal’s nerve and so he’d kept his distance, finally cracking enough to ask Face around for this meal when Murdock warned that Face was just edgy enough to bolt without it. What did he want out of this evening? Face in his life and his heart and his bed for ever more. What did he absolutely _not_ want? Face, who he knew had never _ever_ acted on his attraction to men before, running for the hills in shock or terror. He’d known all along that it would be a delicate balancing act.

“You wanna beer?” he offered. “Or there’s wine instead?”

Face let his eyes slide over the nice red that Hannibal had breathing on the counter and nodded its way. “Chateau Neuf Du Pape,” he raised an eyebrow. “Nice. Pricey...”

“You’re worth it...” the words were out of his mouth without thought and they brought Face’s eyes swivelling back his way, enough emotion and _longing_ in them that, for the second time that week, Hannibal acted on impulse and stepped up to claim his XO’s mouth in a searing kiss.

It was incredible, standing there in his kitchen, kissing and being kissed back like his life depended on it and he honestly thought that it just might. 

Eventually they had to separate though and Hannibal was glad if only for the chance to re-oxygenate his body. They stood, forehead to forehead, breathing each other’s space, arms keeping them close. 

“John,” Hannibal shivered as that never-before-used name was delivered straight into his mouth in a breathy whisper. “I want this. I want you.”

Hannibal kissed him, “I know you do.”

“But,” he could feel Face swallow against him. “I’ve never...”

“I know you haven’t.”

“I don’t want it to hurt.”

Hannibal closed his eyes as a wave of longing threatened to drown him. He had finally realised which particular ‘this’ Face was referring to and the thought that the kid trusted him enough to even think about that on this, their first proper night together... he felt the flush creep up his neck in response. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” he reassured.

“But that’s just it!” kissing, being kissed and knowing that it was something he _knew_ had obviously emboldened Face a little. “I want to. I want to do it all with you.”

Again Hannibal had to close his eyes, his hand running up into the back of those carefully ordered curls. “We have all the time you want, we don’t have to rush into anything.” He felt Face pull away from him, could sense that objection coming. “And if we did do something tonight, you could always top,” he soothed. “Whatever you want, baby,” the unplanned endearment deepening his flush.

There was a moment’s silence, and then Face pulled back ever so slightly, just enough to see Hannibal’s eyes. “John,” he whispered. “I’ve been waiting fifteen years for this night, for the moment when you make me yours,” a wave of heat washed through Hannibal at those words. “I want it, I want everything. I just... you have to know I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, that’s all.”

“Face,” Hannibal breathed in his wonderful, unique scent and felt his cock hardening at the images in his head. “You trust me enough to do this with you, and I swear it won’t hurt. I swear I’ll make it good for you.”

They kissed again, slowly at first, deeply and languorously and then increasing in passion and depth until finally, Face pulled away, his pupils blown, delightful patches of colour in his cheeks. They watched each other in silence and then slowly, deliberately, Face took a step back, his fingers finding Hannibal’s as he tugged him towards the hallway.

“Now?” Hannibal asked breathlessly.

“Now.” Face repeated.

“But...” Hannibal’s eyes flicked to the oven. “I cooked,” and Face stuttered to a halt, his expression filled with confusion.

“Oh,” he followed Hannibal’s gaze. “Okay. Well, yeah. Of course. You hungry?”

Hannibal looked at him standing there in his suit, the obvious start of a hard-on nestled in his pants, his hair mussed and his pupils blown and suddenly wondered if he’d lost his mind. “Fuck, no,” he growled and snapped off the oven, tightening his grip on the hand in his and fixing his eyes on Face’s as they slowly tracked down the hallway to the bedroom. 

As much as Hannibal certainly hadn’t planned on getting Face this far tonight, he would have been a liar if he’d said that he hadn’t hoped that the bedroom would at least see _some_ action. As such he had washed the bedding, tidied and vacuumed, closed the curtains, left a lamp on and in a move that had seen him flush red, made sure that there was lube and condoms in his drawer. Now, he was relieved he had.

As soon as they crossed the threshold of the room Face was on him again, kissing with every ounce of the skill that Hannibal had always thought he’d have. They stood flush together, hands nowhere more exciting than backs or shoulders, clothing still in place, but that fact that this was _Face_ made it just about the most intimate thing that Hannibal had ever done. He’d never had a relationship with a man before, slept with plenty of them, had relationships with women, but for him this was virgin territory, at least he hoped it that was what it was going to be.

They pulled back again, both breathing heavily and Hannibal smiled, as reassuringly as he could, at the nervousness in Face’s eyes. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered, his broad hands going up to push Face’s jacket up off his shoulders. “You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.”

Even in the semi-dark bedroom, Hannibal could see the flush in Face’s cheeks at that comment. “Boss...” he breathed.

“You are,” the jacket was off, draped carefully over the back of the chair. “You always have been.” He stepped in and dropped a quick peck to Face’s parted lips before moving to the buttons of his shirt, slowly and surely popping each one, watching Face’s bent head as he followed Hannibal’s fingers at work. The last one opened, and gently, slowly, Hannibal tugged shirt tails from trousers, studying Face all the time, allowing his eyes to feast on all that familiar skin, skin he was now allowed to study with the intimacy he’d always wanted. 

Despite the permission he now had, it still seemed that Face was a little uncomfortable in the scrutiny as he moved in for another kiss, blocking Hannibal’s view as the shirt was finally removed and laid with the jacket. The kiss was slow and deep again, tongues tentatively sliding together, Hannibal’s hands finally, _finally_ sliding over warm, smooth skin, feeling the odd scar he could picture in his head as he felt it under his hands. Wanting more of that heat, he reached down to lift his own shirt up and over his head, then, with Face standing, bare-chested and cautiously watching him, he opened the button of his jeans and pushed them down his legs, taking them over his feet along with his socks and then, hoping his hard-on wasn’t obvious enough to freak Face out, he took hold of his hand again and led them both to the bed.

For just a second, Face paused on the edge of the duvet covered mattress, but then Hannibal kissed him, and a warm palm smoothing over his tanned ribs seemed to take away that last edge, and together they knelt on the bed, lips sliding over lips as the kiss flowed between them.

Time seemed to stand still as they slowly, gently, thoroughly, opened each other up, and just as slowly, Hannibal laid Face down, pulling away from the kiss until he was kneeling up against the other man’s ribs, one hand on a lightly furred chest, one hand on a smoothly shaved cheek. “Okay?” he asked and Face nodded, his eyes wide in the dark. Hannibal smiled and Face shuffled under his gaze, a thud signalling one shoe being pushed to the floor, another thud, the other.

Taking that as an invitation, Hannibal leant forward and pressed a gentle, chaste kiss onto Face’ s flat abdomen, just above his navel and he couldn’t help but smile at the sharp intake of breath he heard as the warm skin jumped under his touch. “Ready?” he asked and Face nodded again, although Hannibal noticed the tension in his body as he popped the button on his trousers and slowly, carefully, drew down the zipper. 

Hannibal knew that Face went commando from time to time, but he wore trunks, jock-straps, even briefs when he went running, but the black silk boxers he found when he edged the soft grey material of his trousers open were new and wonderful and made him realise that Face had thought about this, had obviously hoped it would happen, at least on some level. He looked up and found hooded blue eyes watching him, holding them, he started sliding the waistband of the trousers down, gently smoothing over tense thighs, dropping his head to kiss along the wake of his movement, feeing a sprinkling of hairs and soft skin under his lips as he went. 

Eventually they were both dressed in nothing but their underwear, Face’s socks having gone the same way as his trousers and Hannibal could see that Face was aroused, but could also tell that he was tense and nervous, his hands in fists at his sides as he lay in the middle of the bed looking up at his CO. Hannibal was in no rush, knew that they had all night just to get as far as they wanted to, but he hit upon an idea that would maybe help Face loosen up a little. Leaning over the body on the bed, hissing in pleasure as his erection grazed over a firm thigh, Hannibal stretched into his bedside drawer and, ignoring the lube, pulled out a bottle of lavender scented massage oil.

Sitting back on his heels, he smiled at Face, trying to set him at ease as he watched him eyeing the bottle in Hannibal’s hands with a nervous gaze. He started opening the lid, but before he got much further than that, Face suddenly flipped over onto his stomach, tilting his ass into the air and tugging his boxers down until the waist band was tucked under the curve of his butt.

For a second Hannibal was speechless and then, “Face...?” was the only coherent word he could form. 

Face turned to look at him, his cheek pressed hard into the pillow, his eyes nothing short of terrified. “I’m ready,” he whispered, “go ahead.”

Still Hannibal couldn’t move. It was only the plaintive, “Boss...” that finally kicked him into motion and he dropped the oil, laying down on his side along Face’s length, a hand gently drawing his boxers back up, pushing his butt back down. 

“No, no, no, no...” he whispered, leaning in to press another kiss to those far-too-tempting lips. “That’s not the way this is going down. You’re not ready at all, nowhere near ready. I need to love you first, every single inch of you, and then we’ll decide if that’s what we want to do.”

Face’s wide eyes stared at him. “But – I thought you wanted...”

“I do,” Hannibal reassured him. “But I’ve wanted you for fifteen years too, I see no reason to rush it now.”

Swallowing hard, Face looked away. “I think – ” he started, then tried again. “I just know I’d feel better if it were over, you know?” Hannibal frowned. “I mean, not like _that_ boss, it’s just...” he let his eyes cautiously wander back to meet Hannibal’s. “Fast and wild and frantic. That’s the way it usually works out for me.”

Hannibal studied him, one hand still smoothing over the black silk draped over his perfect ass, a slight frown on his brow. The thing was that he knew Face better than he even knew himself. Fast and wild and frantic – yeah, he could bet it was. No ties, no emotion, pure unadulterated carnal pleasure. He knew that’s what Face liked, hell, he’d been forced to listen to enough examples of just that over the years, but was that what he wanted for the kid this time? To revert to type? For this experience to be just like all the others? He didn’t even need to think about the answer to that.

“Do you trust me, Temp?” he asked instead, and frowning, Face nodded.

“Shit, boss,” he breathed, “you know I do.”

Hannibal nodded. “Then let me show you another way,” he offered. “Let me take my time and draw this out, it won’t be any of those things, but I promise it will be good.”

If he was expecting Face to leap on him with gratitude then he was sorely disappointed. Face’s frown only deepened and he shifted uncomfortably against the duvet. “I don’t know.”

But Hannibal knew, knew how he would be feeling, knew he’d give him the chance anyway and dropped to nuzzle the warm skin of his neck. “Enough talk, sweetheart,” he whispered. “Let me show you now,” and any objection that Face might have planned was lost the moment that Hannibal started suckling gently on the side of his throat. 

He took his time, slowly working down to the sensitive spot where neck met shoulder, his left hand braced on the bed, his right gently stroking at the warm black silk and slowly, slowly, Face started to tilt his head, opening up more of his neck for Hannibal to love. He moved down, kneeling up but almost folding himself in half so that his kisses could trail all the way around the first prominent vertebrae, right at the top of that wonderfully muscular back. 

Face sighed, a noise that could only be one of pleasure and Hannibal felt a smile creep across his own lips as they continued to the another side of his neck, leaning right over to nuzzle into the soft skin at the nape of his neck, right where his hair lay, curling gently against his skin and while he kissed and licked and sucked, he groped around on the bed until he found the oil and carefully flipped the lid, lifting up and squeezing a generous dribble into the palm of his hand. 

“Lie still,” he whispered, catching Face’s only visible eye as he tracked Hannibal’s movements. “I’m going to give you a back rub.”

This was all about making Face feel good, Hannibal knew that, but it was also about fulfilling his own secret desire, one he’d held for years. Every time he got a good look at that beautiful broad back, Hannibal’s hands had longed to run over it, to feel all that muscle under his palms, to trace finger tips over the swells and contours – and now he was getting his moment. 

His hands slid smoothly together as he warmed the oil then winked at Face as he leaned forward, choosing not to straddle that lean back just yet lest he give the wrong impression.

It was every bit as wonderful as he had dreamed it would be, Face’s skin was warm and smooth, the muscles underneath firm but yielding softly at Hannibal’s touch. He watched, transfixed, as they shifted under his palms, the oil making him shine in the light flooding in from the hallway so it seemed as if Face was glowing. 

Hannibal took his time, starting at his shoulders, rubbing firm but gentle circles into the taut flesh, watching Face’s profile, his closed eye, the tense line of his mouth slowly, slowly slackening as he relaxed into the moment. Cautiously he moved downwards, finger tips dusting over the faint outline of ribs, his eyes drinking in all that shimmering golden flesh that was now his to touch. The room was quiet. Occasionally a car drove by outside, but apart from that there wasn’t a sound to be heard above their quiet breathing. Hannibal almost held his breath as he pushed down gently on the upstroke, longing to hear a noise from Face that told him this was working, that told him that his boy was falling under his spell. 

There was nothing though. Not that Face didn’t look much more relaxed, not that he was trying to run for the hills, he just didn’t look like he was right into it yet. Hannibal leaned over and pressed another kiss to the nape of his neck as he shuffled down a little, the night was young – there was plenty of time yet for the kid to warm up.

Slowly he moved further, finger tips tracing scars, memories of a life shared flitting through his head, down and further down until he reached the ruched silk of Face’s boxers and there he paused, just for a moment, until he made his decision and lifted his hands, squeezing more oil into his palms and sliding them side by side onto a slightly furred thigh. 

Face looked up at that, twisting his torso and lifting his head off the pillow, the question clear in his eyes, the question Hannibal was intent on ignoring. “You okay, kid?” he asked instead, knowing that his own mounting desire was clear in his voice.

“Yeah,” Face twisted a little more, his head back on the pillow, but two eyes fixed firmly on Hannibal. “What are you doing?” he asked and still Hannibal wasn’t going to go there. 

“You never had a massage?” he asked instead.

Face took his time replying. “Not off the physio’s table,” he answered eventually and Hannibal, now running slick palms all around the knee that had needed said physio, glanced curiously up at him. Was that true? No tenderness in bed? Not ever? The thought made Hannibal’s heart ache.

“So?” he asked, distracting himself. “Is it good?”

Again the pause, and this time the, “Yeah,” that was breathed as his answer had just enough of a sigh to it to get Hannibal’s lips twitching into a smile.

“Lie down then,” he commanded softly, “just – let me.” It wasn’t all he wanted to say, but right now it was all he was going to risk. 

When he got down to the finely tapered ankle bones he finally moved, creeping cautiously into the gap between firm calves, applying more oil and starting his journey back again, eyes flicking up to find Face watching him again, one still eye blinking down the bed from under an arm. Hannibal smiled at him. “You know, when I first saw you, you reminded me of a young giraffe.” He felt Face startle at that and couldn’t suppress the chuckle his words had provoked.

“A giraffe?” 

“Yeah,” Hannibal paused as the heel of his hand smoothed up and down the rise of hard calf muscle. “You were all long limbs, looking like you were still growing into yourself,” he smiled at the memory. “But graceful, strong,” the smile widened. “I’d never seen anyone go over the monkey bars like you did. You made it in to an art – so beautiful to watch, like it was no effort at all.”

“Huh,” Face lay back into the pillow. “I’ve never seen a giraffe on the monkey bars.”

“No,” Hannibal agreed one hand on the back of each knee. “Maybe a gazelle. You could sure as hell turn on the speed when you wanted to.”

“ _Or_ a gazelle.” 

Hannibal laughed and started on Face’s right thigh, long sweeps up, firm circles on the way down, watching in fascination as the oil made the hairs on his legs darker, curlier, made them stick to his skin for the briefest of moments and then spring back up again, free and untamed, just as Face had always been, even when he was in Pensacola, even before Hannibal had given him the freedom to be himself. His hands paused at that thought – but had Face ever been himself? Truly? Maybe that could finally happen tonight.

The silence was back, but it was far from uncomfortable. That was one of the many wonderful things that there was about their relationship – the way that they could do that, spend hours together in silence, walking through the mountains, sitting around a campfire, slumped in front of the game, and it was never anything less than perfect. Never.

Thoughts of comfortable togetherness soon brought Hannibal back to his scene of his earlier dilemma and he paused, fingertips brushing the edges of the midnight shorts. He felt Face’s thighs tighten under his fingers and gently, cautiously, he crept further up, allowing his hands to disappear under the black silk, closing his eyes as his palms were suddenly full of warm, rounded flesh. 

“Oh, Face...” the sigh was out of his mouth without thought, his eyes siding closed, his cock surging up against the press of his underwear, a lump starting in his throat and he felt Face rise and fall beneath him as a huge sigh, one he hoped was of pleasure, ripped out of him. “Okay?” he asked, his voice tight and hoarse, and underneath him, head how buried in the fold of his arms, Face just nodded.

Hannibal paused, but this was his XO, his best friend, his love, his life – the man he knew better than any other in the world and his instinct said to keep going, so he did. 

The silence swirled around them, full of things unsaid, and maybe even more powerful because of it, and Hannibal let his hands knead and squeeze and smooth until the oil ran dry on his palms. He slowly pulled himself free again, instantly missing the feel of all that flesh in his hands, and slowly, deliberately whispered his fingers up the smooth silk, gripping the bunched elastic waist band and pausing for just a second before whispering, “Lift up.” 

There was a pause, just enough for Hannibal to wonder if Face really wanted this, but then he did as he was asked, lifting hips up just high enough for Hannibal to slide his boxers down once more, pressing the waistband down into the mattress to ease it over Face’s swollen cock. “Okay?” he asked again.

“Yeah,” and there was enough arousal in that single word to make Hannibal’s heart pound. 

Once Face was settled onto the bed once more and Hannibal had whispered the black silk down his legs and away, he squeezed out more of the massage oil and took up his place between Face’s knees to continue with his massage. As tempting as it was to go back and take up two big handfuls of those wonderful butt cheeks, Hannibal held himself back and instead trailed his hands down already oil-slick skin, one either side of Face’s vertebrae, pressing harder as he got to the base of the kid’s spine, and finally sliding back over the warm swell of flesh. 

That comfortable silence fell once more, Hannibal watching his own hands as they kneaded and stroked, flicking up occasionally to admire the way that Face’s skin shimmered as it flexed in time with his breath. “You’re beautiful,” he repeated, unable to stop the truth from spilling out of him. Face huffed in disbelief but didn’t answer. 

Hannibal was being drawn, again and again by that oh-so-tempting crease that lay shaded and untouched between the kid’s buttocks. The temptation to let his fingers slide down there, to use his palms to spread those wonderful cheeks and let his tongue flick over the puckered star he knew would be there, to bend and kiss and lick the kid in to ecstasy, was strong but he held himself back, knowing the time wasn’t right for that yet. There was a chance that the time would never be right for that, Hannibal had shared a bed with plenty of men who didn’t share his enthusiasm for oral-anal play, but even if Face proved to be one of those men, Hannibal knew he wouldn’t really be bothered, to have this, all of _this_ just laid out before him – well, he was already a deliriously happy man.

He let his hands slip down over the sharp angles of hip bones and took a breath to steady his voice. “Turn over,” he whispered, his heart kicking up a gear, “If you want to that is.”

Face paused, just a moment, but then did turn over, twisting the upper half of his body first and reaching for Hannibal with both hands, drawing the older man down to him and kissing him, while the rest of his body followed and straightened out. Hannibal wanted to look, he’d see Face naked countless times over the years they had been together, but he had never, ever been able to _look_ , and he’d never even had the tiniest glimpse of a naked and aroused Face. That treat was still a wait away, however, as Face held him, two large hands on the sides of his face, and kissed him thoroughly, allowing lips and tongue to steal away every rational thought as Hannibal’s brain tried to paint a picture of what he might be missing. 

Eventually though, even Face had to stop and gently Hannibal pulled away, taking Face’s hands in his own as he straightened, holding the kid’s eyes as he prepared to drink his fill of the beauty in his bed. It wasn’t to be however. Just as Hannibal straightened, just as he flashed a smile at Face’s wide eyes and pulled back, Face moved again, a knee coming up, gently and smoothly, but drawing up and twisting across until his groin was hidden from sight behind a strong thigh.

A lance of pain shot through Hannibal’s heart at that, and unbidden, his eyes jumped away from the obviously forbidden treasure, eyes he knew were laced with pain and rejection, and his mind racing ahead of him, they met with Face’s.

“I’m sorry,” Face’s words were immediate, and those strong hands gripped tightly to Hannibal’s, stopping him even as the urge to leave the room first struck. “I’m sorry, boss. I just...” there was nothing more than that, and with his own face torn by pain and humiliation, Face looked away.

They were frozen in a tragically comical tableau and Hannibal took a deep breath, unwilling to hurt his boy by physically ripping away from him, but suddenly wondering what the hell they were doing. “You don’t have to be here, Face,” he eventually said, aiming for ‘gentle’, but knowing he’d hit on ‘hurt’. 

Face let out a long sigh and turned his head to the side, but not before Hannibal had glimpsed the shine of tear s in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, twisting his hips to further hide himself from Hannibal’s eyes.

The silence spread between them as Hannibal forced himself to breathe, forced himself to think, forced himself to stay. Face wanted this, the intimacy, the change in their relationship, that much at least was clear to him. The words from earlier in the evening came back to him, _’ Fast and wild and frantic. That’s the way it usually works out for me,’_ and he matched that with the look in the kid’s eyes as he’d turned away, the problems that Hannibal knew he already had in letting people near him, letting people close to him – close enough to hurt him.

He took in a huge breath, and held it for a moment before letting it back out slowly and silently. He knew that he carried the whole future of their relationship in his words here, that he could make them or break them with what he said and did. “Face...” he crawled out of his spot between Face’s legs, one hand on the kid’s hip to stop him from flipping back onto his stomach and gently lowered himself down until they were flush on the bed. Then he leaned over the side and rescued his own shirt, opening it up to drape it across Face’s midriff, protecting his modesty, removing his vulnerability. “Come back here,” he whispered, his large hands gently pressing the body next to him into lying straight once more, and Face easily came settling himself on his back while Hannibal lay up against him propped on a hip. “Better?” he asked and Face nodded, turning closer, burying his face into the crook of Hannibal’s neck.

“I’m sorry,” the words were whispered into Hannibal’s throat and he sighed, bringing his arms up to hold Face against him.

“No, kid,” he whispered, “I’m the one who’s sorry. I knew how you felt, I knew you were nervous and I rushed you. I’m so very sorry.”

Warm air huffed against his throat as Face, braver now he could hide, let out a stilted laugh. “I feel like a jerk,” he muttered and Hannibal knew without seeing that he was blushing.

“Don’t be crazy,” he pressed a kiss into Face’s hair and let his hand stroke up and down the lightly oiled back.

For a few minutes they were silent again, Hannibal wondering if maybe now was a good time to switch the oven back on, when he felt Face take in a breath and knew that the conversation was about to start up again.

“I’ve never done this before.”

Hannibal smiled and pulled him closer. “I know, kid; we’ve covered this.”

“No,” he could feel Face shake his head. “Not the _man_ side of this, the...” he tailed off and Hannibal knew then that his suspicion had been correct.

“Intimacy?” he offered and Face just nodded.

The pain in his heart flared again at that admission, but not for himself this time and he wondered what he should say. He knew he had the option to let Face off the hook so to speak, to turn him back onto his stomach and fuck him into the mattress and an uncomfortable part of him felt that Face might even welcome that. But he couldn’t and he wouldn’t and tonight was never about any of that – his feelings for Face weren’t about anything like that, they were infinitely more precious. 

“We don’t have to make love tonight,” he said, feeling Face press just a little closer. “We don’t ever have to do anything that you don’t completely want, but I won’t just _take_ you, Temp. You’re worth more than that, much, much more.” Face stilled in his arms and Hannibal gave him a quick squeeze. “Why don’t we get dressed and go and sample that wine, hey?” he asked, hoping his voice didn’t sound anywhere near as false as it felt, but Face didn’t stir. “What do you think, hey kid? You brave enough to try some lasagne?”

Finally Face moved, lifting his head to meet Hannibal’s eyes, “Hannibal... John...” that’s all there was, nothing more, no more words were needed. He surged up to capture Hannibal’s mouth again after that and Hannibal let him, welcomed him and hauled him even closer, because they may just have been two words, but between them a whole conversation had passed. Hannibal understood now what his role was in all of this, what Face wanted, no _needed _from him, and like he always did, he was going to make sure that Face got it.__

__Tonight wasn’t just a turning point in their relationship, it was a turning point in Face’s whole life. This was the moment that Hannibal could persuade him that there was far more to sex than coming, and he could show him, finally, that he was worth something, worth a hell of a lot of somethings. As they kissed, Hannibal felt that pressure baring down on him, but he didn’t buckle; Face needed him to do this, navigate them both through emotions that Face didn’t know and couldn’t cope with, and if he did a good enough job, then the Face who came out of the other side, the _relationship_ that came out the other side would be deeper, richer – stronger as a result. _ _

__He let the kiss build and build until there was a degree of looseness to Face’s shoulders that had previously been lost and then he laid his boy back, pushing him down into the duvet once more and lifting his head. “I love you,” he whispered and felt a thrill of excitement run through him at the way Face’s eyes widened a little at that. “And now I’m going to show you just how much.”_ _

__Face held his eyes, and nodded._ _

__Hannibal lay on his side as Face lay on his back, Hannibal’s shirt still draped across his groin, his head twisted so he could hold Hannibal’s eyes and Hannibal smiled at him, his free hand reaching out to trail light patterns over the dip in Face’s chest over his sternum. They watched each other carefully, Hannibal waiting until the tense line to Face’s mouth had softened before he let his eyes drift down to follow the delicate course of his fingers. Face’s chest was beautiful – pretty much like the rest of him in fact, and Hannibal revelled in the chance to examine it up close for the very first time._ _

__His hand crept down, following the slight swell of abdominal muscles, feeling every dip and rise that defined Face’s six pack stomach. Back when they were serving, and just after they broke out of jail, Face had been in better shape than he was now but that had actually made Hannibal uncomfortable. The kid worked so hard to keep himself like that, to keep his _eight_ pack stomach that Hannibal began to worry it was turning into something else. He worked out all the time, every spare minute he had, he strictly controlled what he ate, what he drank, and Hannibal knew for a fact he was drinking nothing but protein shakes on some days. It worried him, was starting to trouble him more; the only reason he never mentioned it was the fear that by making it into _something_ he might push Face into steroids or worse._ _

__But that hadn’t lasted once they were free and running. Those first six months there had barely been time for anything but survival and eventually, when their lives settled down into something like routine, Face’s fitness schedule settled into something that Hannibal could live with. He kept himself fit, he still thought about everything he ate and drank, but the protein shakes were gone, and so was the almost obsessive working out – and he still had the most exquisite body that Hannibal had ever seen._ _

__His fingers stopped at the rumpled edge of his shirt and then they drifted back up again, over the rises and valleys, further up to Face’s pecs, gently, gently heading for one of those tempting, dusky nipples. His breath held in his throat, the whole world seemed to pause on the edge of its seat as Hannibal finally, with just the very tip of one finger, circled the dark pink nub, his eyes staring in wonder as it almost stood up to his touch, before they flicked to Face, hoping he was doing this right._ _

__The look on his boy’s face made his cock twitch viciously in the confines of his shorts and he hoped to hell that Face hadn’t felt it against his leg. His eyes were only partially open, like his mouth, and he was staring down at Hannibal’s finger, the moistness of his lips, the flush to his cheeks and his hooded eyes all an indication of his arousal. Hannibal’s cock twitched again._ _

__Adjusting his position, eyes fixed on Face, Hannibal moved his hand, trailing across the swell of muscle, down into the dip where the skin was flat against his sternum, and then back up again, finding the other nipple by touch alone and this time gently squeezing it between forefinger and thumb. Face let out a long sigh and, arching his chest up towards Hannibal’s hand, closed his eyes and sank back into the pillow. “That feels amazing,” he whispered, his words carried on his sigh._ _

__It was just the encouragement Hannibal needed though, and he leaned forward, losing his wonderful view, but finding something much better for his mouth. The second his tongue flicked out over the tactile nipple, Face’s hand was in his hair, just gently, just keeping him there, the gasped, “Oh, boss...” further proof of what was wanted._ _

__For long minutes there was near silence, just the odd gasp or suckling noise, and the two men barely moved, Hannibal’s head switching from nipple to nipple, Face’s hands gently holding him, guiding him. Finally Hannibal lifted up._ _

__Face’s nipples shone with saliva and were both straining upwards, almost as if they were searching for the tongue that had abandoned them. Hannibal tore his gaze away and met Face’s eyes once more, the lust and the longing clear in their depths. Face reached for him and they fell into another kiss, this time, Hannibal’s hand going back and continuing the job his tongue had started, rolling and flicking and squeezing Face’s nipples until he was whimpering with need into the kiss._ _

__Hannibal eventually pulled back, feeling the pre-cum from his own cock soaking his shorts and knowing that he could come simply from what the two of them were doing now. He tucked his legs underneath him, kneeling at Face’s side, his cock trapped between thighs and stomach and just getting enough friction to keep his desire bubbling away. Starting at Face’s neck, he began a trail of kisses, over collar bone and sternum, finding a nipple on the way down, tracing the edges of ribs, his fingers mapping the way and following behind, tracking the saliva damp skin his mouth left in its wake._ _

__His lips felt the edge of his shirt and under his fingers Face tensed; not letting it worry him now, Hannibal moved on, shuffling down the bed until he was at thigh height, dropping his lips and starting again. Like his hands before him, Hannibal’s mouth felt the light dusting of hairs as it travelled down a firm thigh. Without even looking, he found the familiar puckered scar from the bullet Face took in a Black Op in Mali and let his tongue trail around it and in it, before moving down again. He took his time on the insides of Face’s thighs, switching from one to the other when, obviously very sensitive, Face twitched under his attention, then he moved on, trailing kisses around the shape of a knee cap, right down the smooth top of a foot before starting back up again._ _

__This time, he moved again, sliding off the bed and then climbing on again between Face’s feet, concentrating on the responsive insides of his legs as he slowly, slowly moved upwards._ _

__It seemed like no time at all before Hannibal was back in-between the kid’s thighs, but this time, he felt the almost imperceptable shift in the muscles as Face opened up for him, spreading his thighs just enough to give Hannibal room to manoeuvre. He instantly accepted the silent invitation and shuffled forward, bending himself almost in half so that he could kiss and nip and lick at all the tender flesh open to him. As he worked, he could feel Face’s body twitching and starting to writhe under his touch, he looked up once or twice to find hooded eyes watching him, fists clenched around handfuls of duvet and every time his own cock leapt at the sight. He moved higher._ _

__He was almost there now, could smell the familiar musk of male arousal and knew, if Face wasn’t hard, then he’d even be able to nuzzle at the tip of his cock. He paused, tongue making lazy circles on a patch of soft inner thigh when he suddenly heard, _felt_ the rustle of cotton as his shirt was pulled away and dropped on the floor. _ _

__He looked up, straight up into Face’s eyes and could see what that act had cost him, could see the flush in his cheeks, the strain in his eyes and smiled, winking with as much reassurance as he could before ignoring the now-unveiled erection, and returning to his patch of saliva wet thigh._ _

__A minute ticked by in his head, silent but noted as he continued as he had been, and then, slowly, gently he edge up a little further. He was closer than he’d even thought he was, and within seconds his nose bumped the underside of a cool testicle and they both twitched at that. Hannibal didn’t falter though, knew Face needed him to be smooth, to be in control and he finally closed that last inch to his treasure._ _

__Face arched and moaned out loud as Hannibal dragged the broad flat of his tongue right up the tight little ball, making it lift under his touch. Then he moved straight to the other, using the tip this time to circle and tease before licking across them both. By now, Face’s hands were in his hair keeping him there but nudging him up, just a little, just a bit, just wanting that bit higher..._ _

__Hannibal was wary, the last thing he wanted was to spook Face once more so he stayed where he was resisting the temptation to tongue at a flat perineum, mouthing and nuzzling at Face’s balls, his own cock leaking steadily now in his pants._ _

__“John...” Face’s voice, rough with lust, broke into his hesitancy and he knew the time had come. Edging forward slightly more, resting his hands on the sharp edges of hip bones, he finally allowed himself just a second to admire, before gently, tenderly, finding the base of Face’s thick cock with his tongue and pushing himself flat, making the largest surface area he could, and then slowly dragging the warm muscle right up Face’s length._ _

__The reaction was spectacular and Hannibal was glad that he had placed his hands on Face or he would have had a face full of thrusting hips. Face cried out and Hannibal could imagine his hands in the duvet and was pleased that they weren’t in his hair any more. His tongue reached the smooth head of Face’s cock and he didn’t pause, he certainly didn’t want the kid to come right now and like this, but he also didn’t want to give him enough time to stop and think about what the hell he what Hannibal was doing with him and get another case of cold feet._ _

__Instead, he swirled his tongue over the smoothly stretched skin and heard Face moan again, before letting just the tip flick out and lap up the pre-cum which, like Hannibal’s in his shorts, was flowing almost freely._ _

__“Oh, _God_ , please...” Face whispered and that sound, the sound of him begging for Hannibal went right to his cock and his heart; he never wanted Face to have to beg for anything – ever. The lean hips under his palms were twitching, and when he looked up, Face’s eyes, pupils completely blown, were watching him with such longing in them that he didn’t pause a second, just pulled himself up and took Face inside him, adjusting himself once or twice before finally being able to let the kid right up into his throat. Face cried out again and this time his hands leapt from the duvet and into Hannibal’s hair, holding him still while his hips started frantically pumping. _ _

__Hannibal balked, he could deep throat better than most, but he was still human and he still had needs – like breathing. Face was lost now, his eyes shut tight, his hips moving on their own and Hannibal knew he had seconds before he was so far gone that he’d never be able to come back, and that was not the way that this needed to go down. Tensing his hands on the jumping hips, Hannibal drew back, closing his ears to the whine of disappointment as he let Face’s shining cock fall free of his mouth._ _

__For a second he waited, wondering if he’d left it too late, if Face was going to come anyway, but then he saw the tension leak out of his boy’s body and the tightly scrunched eyes open to meet with his. Face looked mortified, “Shit, Hannibal,” he whispered, “I’m sorry. That was-”_ _

__But Hannibal didn’t let him get any further than that. He lay down over that beautiful body and swallowed Face’s mouth with his own, kissing and kissing and telling Face how much it didn’t matter, how much he loved him with every tender stroke of his tongue._ _

__Eventually they pulled apart and Hannibal waited, forehead to forehead until he knew that Face’s eyes were open. “Can I make love with you?” he asked, feeling the sharp intake of breath his words provoked._ _

__“Yes,” the response was immediate and sounded heart-felt, but Hannibal paused, he’d expected a little thought at least. “God, yes,” Face amended, when Hannibal just stared at him, “I’ve never wanted anything more,” the kiss that followed was messy and frantic and had never been so close to absolute perfection ever before in Hannibal’s life._ _

__They shuffled around on the bed, neither wanting to relinquish their hold on the other, until Hannibal had snagged the lube and a condom from the drawer. He tucked the tube under his hip, warming it for later and then pressed the condom into Face’s fingers, ducking his head self-consciously as he asked, “Will you put it on me?”_ _

__There was a pause to that, enough of a pause for Hannibal to wish that the bed would open up and eat him and he flushed, fingers grabbing to take it back. “It doesn’t matter...”_ _

__“No.” Face’s fingers closed around the condom and Hannibal looked up until they were eye to eye once more. “Are you clean?” Face asked surprising the hell out of Hannibal who flushed an even deeper shade of red and nodded._ _

__“Of course.”_ _

__Face nodded back. “Me too. And I’ve always used a condom, _always_.” Hannibal frowned. So what the hell was the problem then? Just that Face didn’t want to _touch_ him? A shot of ice ran through him at the thought._ _

__“So... I was thinking,” Face’s earnest eyes held his in the twilight of the room. “Do we even need one?”_ _

__That was unexpected, totally, and Hannibal froze. It had been ingrained into him from such an early age, when he was discovering his sexuality in the wake of AIDS, that you should always use a condom, and he’d honestly never even considered the alternative. In truth, he’d never had anyone he would have considered it for, but still it was a shock. He focussed back on Face who seemed to know that he needed this minute to think and then he smiled, the smile so wide and warm he felt it right through his body. “I’d be honoured,” he whispered and then dipped to kiss away Face’s answering smile._ _

__The condom was never seen again, but Hannibal found it hard to care as he slowly edged his way back until he was kneeling between Face’s thighs, his eyes fixed on those blown blue eyes as he carefully pulled his boy down the bed, sliding him up his own thighs until Face was laid on his back, his hips nestled in Hannibal’s lap, his legs over the boss’ hips. That look of edginess was starting to creep back into his expression and Hannibal moved quickly, squirting the warmed lube into his hands, he rubbed them together and then used them both to rub up and down the whole length of Face’s straining cock._ _

__It was the first time he’d touched it in passion, the first time he’d seen it awake and in all its glory. The life they lead he’d had to wash Face before, help him to use the bathroom when he’d been hurt, but that was not this – that was what a close friend would do for a team-mate and he’d done it for Murdock and BA as well. This – this was touching him as a lover. “Good?” he asked as Face made a long, loud sigh and melted back into the duvet and a contented nod was all he got in reply._ _

__He took his time, allowing himself, at last, to feast his eyes on this wonderful gift. He used one hand and two, finger tips and his wide palm, he didn’t ignore the neat balls either, watching Face’s expression cloud in lust as he lifted them and smoothed the skin underneath. Eventually, Face’s eyes slid closed and his hips twitched with every touch Hannibal bestowed on him and Hannibal knew it was time. He left one hand lazily palming the red, shining cock, and used the other to open the lube, squeezing a generous quantity out onto his own thigh where he could get it when he needed it, then taking the first little scoop in two fingers, he gently found that spot under Face’s balls once more._ _

__He held his breath, but Face didn’t tense as those fingers stroked his soft perineum, and taking heart from that, he allowed them to creep further down. His fingers rubbed little circles as his free hand continued to slowly work the rigid cock, and then it was there – the most intimate of places, the puckered skin feeling incredibly special against Hannibal’s finger tip. For a second he stayed right where he was, circling and stroking, his other hand giving as much pleasure as it could, but then he withdrew, going back for another scoop of lube and preparing for the next step._ _

__His finger circled again as he considered, then he shuffled forward, bending in half as he blindly felt the muscled opening, then his head dipped over Face’s cock-head as his finger gently pressed and Face actually impaled himself as he surged forward into Hannibal’s mouth._ _

__That initial breeching over, Hannibal stayed exactly where he was, giving them both time to get used to the new sensations. Face was doing well, he knew that, could hear his harsh breath and the flexing of his hips that meant he was enjoying Hannibal’s mouth on him, regardless of what the finger in his ass felt like, but Hannibal was trying hard not to come from the knowledge that he was inside Face and Face was inside him and that they were really going to do this._ _

__Within a minute, he’d had hauled himself back under control, enough to move his finger and explore, making sure he flicked his tongue against the underside of Face’s cock while he did so, take the kid’s mind off what was happening down below. If Face _was_ managing to ignore the probing digit however, that was brought to an abrupt stop the second that Hannibal found Face’s prostate; one stroke across the little walnut-like nub where all the nerves were bundled together and Face was bucking up off the bed again, a shocked, “Oh!” all he could manage and the burst of pre-cum in Hannibal’s mouth having him lifting off again._ _

__“Okay?” he whispered, stroking it again and feeling the heat in his groin at Face’s enthusiastic response._ _

__It was absorbing, Hannibal admitted as he sat back on his heels and watched Face writhing and gasping with Hannibal’s finger inside him, unable to answer even that simplest of questions. He let go of the straining cock, worried about pushing him over the edge again and instead used his free hand to deliver another load of lube to the point where Face’s body swallowed him in. Slowly, slowly he withdrew his finger until it was barely inside, and then he pushed his middle finger alongside it, letting the extra lube slick his way as the two digits now slid home. Face barely seemed to notice, it was like he only lived for the gentle brushes that Hannibal made over his prostate and the two fingers that were ever so slowly opening him up between times weren’t even there. Feeling bolder and having a cock so hard it was getting painful, Hannibal now slid his ring finger in as well, leaning back to watch them being gripped by that wonderful muscle as he gently stretched and turned._ _

__They were both getting desperate now. Face was back to fisting the duvet, his legs spread as far as he could get them, his eyes shut tight as he writhed and bucked on Hannibal’s fingers. Hannibal’s cock was throbbing in time with his pulse, his shorts soaked in precum, his balls aching with need every time one of Face’s squirms made contact with him. But he made himself wait, he was big, he knew that, and he hadn’t come this far, got Face so relaxed just to hurt the boy now. Closing his eyes he started cleaning a hand gun in his head, keeping his mind off the wonderful thing he was doing as his finger twisted and stretched and rubbed enough against Face’s button to keep him right up on the edge._ _

__Finally he couldn’t wait any longer and he knew that Face was as loose as he ever would be. He kept his fingers in place, and glanced down, getting ready to slick his cock and then froze, gut clenching as he noticed he was still wearing his shorts. One-handedly, he fumbled with the split at the front, tugging his turgid cock out and staring in frustration as he realised that that would never work. He glanced up at Face, eyes still shut in a lust fuelled oblivion and made a decision. He leant down, took the leaking head of Face’s cock in his mouth as he slowly withdrew his fingers from the clenching hold of his ass. Then, with a few seconds of desperate scrambling, he had his shorts ripped right up one seam, enough for him to completely free his groin and push the rest of the ruined scraps down onto his left knee. The second he was done, he split the rest of the lube between his two hands and as one slipped straight back inside a warm and loose Face, the other provided both lube and heavenly friction to his dripping cock._ _

__Once his fingers were home again, deep in Face’s smooth and slick heat, Hannibal pulled off his cock and edged forward. “Face,” he whispered, getting himself into place. “Face, baby, look at me, please look at me.”_ _

__Hooded eyes opened and settled on Hannibal just as Hannibal’s fingers withdrew for the final time and the blunt head of his cock rested at the stretched opening instead. He knew it was closing though, had felt how strong Face’s muscles had been at first and knew that all the elasticity that he’d spent so long working into them would not last long. He pushed slightly, felt a token resistance and then felt Face clench tight, eyes opened wide as he locked him out. Hannibal swallowed, forcing calm into his veins and took a deep breath._ _

__“Are we doing this, sweetheart?” he asked quietly, willing to stop but praying he wouldn’t have to. “You know we don’t need to. You know it’s optional...”_ _

__Face stared at him for a moment, it was like his comprehension was dulled by the lust in his blood, and then roused himself enough to answer. “Fuck, yes, we’re doing this!” His voice was nothing but a hoarse whisper._ _

__Hannibal smiled and freed one shaking hand to rest on Face’s cheek. “Okay...” their eyes burned into each other and Hannibal’s stomach flipped in joy. “Relax then, Temp. Open up to me and this will be okay, this will be wonderful.” He didn’t want to say wonderful, he wanted to say beautiful, exquisite, epic. Perfect... But he also didn’t want to scare Face away from him, he could see the confusion that, despite his words, was still lingering in Face’s eyes, the uncertainty, the difficulty he was having in keeping eye contact, in allowing this _closeness_ , and it was close, closer than anything that Hannibal had ever experienced before._ _

__Slowly, eyes locked together, Hannibal felt the tension in the thighs around him lessen, he smiled again, trying to encourage his boy, trying to promise what he’d run out of words for. He pressed forward again._ _

__This time Face’s eyes slid closed and an unmistakably pained expression ran over his face. Hannibal stopped once more and moved his hand from stubbled cheek to the slightly flagging erection now laid on Face’s stomach. “It’s okay,” he soothed, stroking the hot, smooth flesh, “It’s all okay.”_ _

__Slowly, slowly, slowly he edged forward again, feeling the head of his cock pressing tighter and tighter against Face’s opening. They weren’t going to be able to do it, he realised with a lurch, it was still too painful, Face’s eyes were shut tight his hands in clenched fists even though his cock was now full again, tiny drips of pre-cum mixing with the lube on Hannibal’s hand. Desperately Hannibal leaned back on his heels, fumbling with the lube once more, getting as much on the duvet as he got on his fingers and then dropping it who-knew-where so that he could slide a finger in next to his cock-head, caress that tight rose once more, slick it further, press with the pad of a finger, opening the door back up. As soon as he’d done that, broken the clenching seal, his cock slid right in, almost two whole inches before he managed to put on the brakes, hand flat on the bed to stop himself from landing on Face’s chest, desperate eyes flicking up to meet Face’s._ _

__They were open again now, his boy’s beautiful blue eyes, staring at Hannibal in nothing less than blank shock. Hannibal froze, breath caught in his throat as he waited for the pain to show, but nothing came._ _

__“Oh God,” Face finally whispered, Hannibal could feel the little twitches of his hips but wasn’t sure if he were trying to deepen the contact or simply escape. “Oh, God, Hannibal. More. Please, more...” The desperate words went straight to his cock and he felt it twitch even as its end was held tight in Face’s grip. He held Face’s eyes, leaning over him so that he was all Face could see, and with his hand on his boy’s cock once more, he started filling him._ _

__The deeper Hannibal went, the easier it actually was and all the time they stared at each other, Hannibal completely powerless to look away, those blue eyes holding him as tightly as the grip of muscle around his cock. “That’s incredible,” he breathed._ _

__At last he was there, he could feel sweat on his back and the wonderful snug completion of his balls nestled up against Face’s butt, but more than anything he could feel his love for the man beneath him as it threatened to swallow him whole._ _

__“I feel you,” Face whispered, his voice a strange mixture of wonder and arousal, his hips twisting just a little. “Right inside me.” Again Hannibal twitched and Face’s eyes suddenly darkened, “I’m yours,” time seemed to stand still. “God, Hannibal. I’m all yours, only yours.”_ _

__The words were wonderful enough, but the look in Face’s eyes, a look that said something even deeper and even more wonderful told him something he’d never even dared to hope for. With a moan, low and almost painful, Hannibal came. He couldn’t help it, it was all so intense and yes, beautiful, exquisite, epic and perfect. He leaned forward, shoving himself as deep as he could, leaning to taste those wonderful lips and delivered his love right into Face’s soul, over and over and over again. They might not have come together, it may not have been his best ever _performance_ , but, fuck, it was his best ever orgasm, the only one that had touched his heart and soul. _ _

__He forced his eyes open and his head up from where it had fallen on Face’s chest and let his blurry vision find Face’s wide and clearly shocked eyes; he smiled._ _

__“Fuck, boss,” there was a concern in Face’s voice that just shouldn’t have been there, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”_ _

__For a second those words threatened to dull Hannibal’s wonderful post-orgasmic glow, but then he just laughed, too high on endorphins to let it. “Don’t be crazy,” he whispered, falling on Face’s lips again as the hand still wrapped around his cock slowly started up its rhythm once more. “That was incredible. _You_ are incredible. It’s never been like that for me before, never so wonderful and perfect, like you.” He was past worrying now about letting everything out and scaring Face off, that climax had just proved it all to him, it wasn’t lust, it was love, pure love._ _

__His hips were moving, a slow slide out, gliding on the seminal fluid in Face’s body, a deep push in straight onto the sensitive prostate and Face cried out, his back arching for more, his eyes rolling back in his head. “Yes!” was his only, strained, comment. Hannibal smiled and quickened his pace by the tiniest fraction._ _

__“You feel wonderful,” he murmured, loving the way the velvety-smooth muscles embraced his sensitive cock, watching the way Face’s expression fluttered with every stroke inside him. “You gonna come?”_ _

__Face just nodded, his head jammed back into the pillow, his eyes scrunched shut. Hannibal knew that’d he’d stay hard for a little while yet, he always did if there was something there to keep his interest up, but he wanted Face to come now, he was being greedy, he realised that, but he wanted to watch, wanted to see his boy shake apart in pleasure. “Come on then,” he encouraged, twisting his fist over the head of Face’s cock. “Let yourself go baby, come for me.”_ _

__Too far gone to answer now, Face just lay back in the duvet, his body completely at Hannibal’s mercy, open and trusting, and the sight brought tears to the older man’s eyes. He shook his head and tore his gaze from the man below him, concentrating instead on his own hands, his own cock and the pleasure that they could beget before the approaching orgasm hit. The rhythm from his hips was slow and steady, and his left hand moved with it, wrapped around Face’s cock, wringing bliss with every stroke. His right moved in smooth, ceaseless circles, ghosting over tense thighs and quivering stomach muscles, teasing peaked nipples and caressing heavy balls and all the time Face trembled under him, his orgasm stealing closer with every second._ _

__“Hannibal...!” the word was a plea, a desperate call for reassurance._ _

__“It’s okay, baby,” Hannibal soothed, “I’ve got you, it’s okay to let go, I’ve got you.”_ _

__Helpless blue eyes opened and blinked, trying to clear a path of sight through the lust that was clouding them. “John...!”_ _

__“I’ve got you.”_ _

__Hannibal gently squeezed the balls nestling in the palm of his hand as if to prove his words and that seemed to be enough to tip Face over the edge. He arched back on his heels, eyes shut, head holding his weight, hands fisting the duvet with vicious desperation and as his helpless muscles twitched and shuddered, his cock surged up in Hannibal’s hand and let loose with a fast burst of milky-white semen. Hannibal stared, transfixed as another joined it, splattering messily on Face’s chest, then another, then another._ _

__With every burst of heaven, Face cried out, wordless shouts of ecstasy, but the last one, as Hannibal’s hand expertly persuaded one last effort from him, well, the last one was undoubtedly Hannibal’s name, whispered like a blessing as every muscle in his body sagged and he sank, boneless into the duvet._ _

__Hannibal slowly stilled and unwrapped his fingers from Face’s softening cock, letting it lie against the kid’s thigh before gently, slowly pulling out. He stared in awe at the trail of come, _his_ come that followed him out, leisurely dripping onto the duvet below, the visible sign that they had done this, made love, no barriers between them the closest that either of them had ever been to another person. He slowly climbed to his feet, wincing at the stiffness in his thighs and gently drawing Face’s legs together as he rose. Face didn’t even twitch, his body a boneless mass on the bed as Hannibal rescued his shirt once more, gently cleaning lube and semen from his boy’s skin before drying himself and wiping his hands. He dumped the abused shirt back on the carpet and climbed onto the bed at Face’s side, folding the edge of the duvet to cover him from midriff to thighs._ _

__“Okay?” he asked tentatively a careful hand creeping across Face’s ribs, trying not to freak out at the sudden silence. It continued to stretch however, Face so still that Hannibal’s heart started thumping uncomfortably against his ribs and that irrational desire to run from the room showed its face again. He forced himself to wait however, keep his mouth shut and give Face his space and time; he’d not known the kid for all these years without learning how to let him handle his emotions. “Face?” was all he added into the continued silence._ _

__“Hannibal...” Face answered eventually, and his tone didn’t make Hannibal feel any better._ _

__“I’m here, kid,” he managed to force the words out from under the lump in his throat._ _

__Another silence, then another breath as Face prepared to speak, but instead of words there was only a sound, half gasp, half sob and as he suddenly turned, pressing his face into Hannibal’s chest, leaving his fold of duvet behind, his fingers like claws on Hannibal’s back._ _

__“Hey, hey...” Hannibal soothed him suddenly terrified at what they’d just done. “It’s okay, you’re okay kid, you’re okay,” but Face’s reply was only the sound of strangled sobs as Hannibal held him, stroking and soothing and trying not to let his confusion show._ _

__Eventually the sobs petered out into nothing and the silence returned. It was far too ominous for Hannibal’s nerves, however, so he filled it with more soothing nonsense, pressing kisses into Face’s hair and just holding him close, waiting until he was ready to speak._ _

__“I’m sorry,” the words when they finally came were sadly predictable._ _

__Hannibal pressed another kiss into sweat damp hair, “I have no idea what for,” he admitted quietly._ _

__Another minute of silence crawled by._ _

__“For this,” Face finally mumbled. “For acting like a damn girl.”_ _

__Hannibal chuckled and pulled him closer. “You didn’t,” he reassured._ _

__The silence was back after that, and still confused, Hannibal knew he had to push. “So... Come on then, Face. Tell me. Did I hurt you? Pressure you?”_ _

__That got Face’s head up, so fast he must have got whiplash he was staring at Hannibal, his eyes red rimmed and undeniably embarrassed. “No! God, Hannibal, no! You were perfect, it was all so perfect...” that admission pulled another sob from deep in his chest and he dropped his head once more, hiding himself in Hannibal’s chest, but at least now Hannibal felt he had some idea as to what had caused the tears._ _

__“Oh, Face,” he said, kissing him again, pulling him closer. “It was perfect, you’re right. And that’s what I think of you, you know. Perfect. My perfect boy who I love with all my heart.”_ _

__Silence again, and Hannibal let it lie, kept up his stroking and kissing, kept Face close to him until he felt the tiny little pull back, and then he gave him the room to reach up and wipe his eyes before pressing his own kiss to Hannibal’s chest and snuggling back in, his grip slightly less intense, his eyes open, even if they were a little red-rimmed._ _

__Time passed, but it wasn’t awkward and Hannibal wasn’t terrified now. But he was thinking, planning how the rest of the evening could go, how best to keep chipping away at Face until he felt comfortable in this love they’d discovered._ _

__Eventually Face’s voice sounded out, steadier now, but still raw, emotion audible in every word. “That was incredible,” he said and Hannibal could almost feel the blush on his cheeks. “ _You_ were incredible. I had no idea it could be like that.”_ _

__Hannibal squeezed him. “Only with people who love each other,” he whispered._ _

__Face’s arms tightened around him but he didn’t speak again and as the minutes ticked by, Hannibal felt the uncomfortable press of his bladder as his cock finally softened. “I need to take a leak,” he said reluctantly, pressing another kiss to Face’s hair. “How about I put the oven back on and bring the wine in here while we wait for dinner to finish? Then we can eat and maybe I can interest you in a shower before bed. You are staying, right?”_ _

__There was no denying the sigh he heard was one of purest relief and Face lifted his head again, the embarrassment in his eyes less acute, a genuine smile on his lips. “Yeah,” he replied, “sounds like a plan, boss.”_ _

__Hannibal kissed his lips and tasted the tears on them before sliding from the bed, “Five minutes,” he promised sincerely, “don’t you move a muscle.” Face shook his head, and with a smile, Hannibal climbed off the duvet and padded out into the hallway._ _

__As soon as he had gone, Face flopped onto his back, head on the pillow, unseeing eyes on the ceiling above him. This evening had been... so, so different from what he’d been expecting. Yes, he knew that Hannibal wanted him, why the hell else would he have kissed him like that back at what was left of the saw mill. But the rest? The tenderness, the devotion, the _love_? Hell, no. That had hit him like a thunderbolt, torn right through every barricade he’d ever built, stripped him right down to his fragile core. _ _

__He hadn’t been prepared for that much emotion to pour out of the boss like that. He hadn’t expected it, hadn’t steeled himself for it – had never let himself even _start_ to dream that Hannibal would want him like that. It had caught him by surprise and he’d not been able to keep the lid on his traitorous emotions. Even now, his throat was tight and his eyes blurred as he thought back to their love-making, and for the first time in his life Face knew that’s what he’d done – made love. _ _

__Not that he’d done much of anything mind you, just laid there like a damn virgin and let Hannibal get on with it. But then he supposed that was exactly what he had been – a damn virgin, he’d never wanted any other man anywhere near as much as he’d wanted Hannibal, and it seemed wrong to settle for less. But now he had him, he could feel his lips twitching into a smile; he had him and Hannibal wanted him back, _loved him_ , his heart leapt. God, it was incredible. _ _

__The flush sounded from the bathroom in the hall and he listened as bare feet padded down to the kitchen, Hannibal’s deep voice singing softly, as he went. Face’s smile grew wider as he worked out the melody to the song, _Wild Mountain Thyme_ if he wasn’t mistaken, a typically unorthodox Hannibal choice and he suddenly smiled broad and true; Hannibal Smith was walking around his apartment, buck naked and singing, pouring wine and cooking lasagne – and all because of Face._ _

__The tears were back at that, his damaged heart still struggling to believe that any of that could be for _him_ , a nameless, worthless orphan, but he wiped them away. This was _Hannibal_ , Hannibal would never lie to him, _had_ never lied to him – never would, and Face steeled himself. Drawing on his famous Ranger courage, he swung his legs off the bed and snagged his boxers off the floor, pausing for a second with the silk running through his fingers before ditching them and standing naked, silently following the sound of the quiet singing. He might not be able to say the words he wanted to, not tonight and maybe not for a little while yet, but he could sure as hell show them, and he would, he would give Hannibal that gift as he worked on the rest. It might take time but he had to trust in the man he loved that they’d have it, together at last, finally truly together._ _


End file.
